One Surprising Way That Teens Differ From Other Gamers

At an estimated 60 million strong, teens in America make up for a sizable portion of gamers in the United States. Not only that, but they also have a surprisingly different take on games compared to other demographics.

According to a Google survey taken between the last week of June and the first week of July in 2016, they found that these 60 million teens contribute $44 billion annually to the overall U.S., economic market, and that they could potentially contribute up to $200 billion annually due to parental influence.

Most surprising is that teens, unlike other demographics, actually noted that they actually thought that the Xbox brand was cooler than the PlayStation brand. On a scale of awareness from 1 to 10, teens were fully aware of the Xbox and PlayStation brands, placing them approximately at a 9 out of 10. However, they felt that the Xbox just barely edged out the PlayStation in terms of coolness, with the Xbox being about a 7.8 on the coolness scale and the PlayStation being about a 7.7.

Millennials on the other hand, those 18 -- 24, actually preferred the PlayStation over the Xbox in terms of coolness.

The stats are interesting because the sales obviously favor the PlayStation in terms of install base, but if the younger crowd are seeing the Xbox as the "cooler" brand, it's not surprising given that Microsoft has a pretty strong presence in American pop-culture with keeping people aware of the Xbox, even if it doesn't always have the best of reputations.

However, while the current generation PS4 may be beating the Xbox One as far as install bases go at an estimated 55 million units, the Xbox One has mounted a significant offense in 2016, managing to beat the PS4 in North America on the monthly NPD charts several times throughout the year.

So perhaps the resurgence of the Xbox One could be influenced by young teens who prefer it over the PlayStation 4 at the moment? Then again, they use the broad "Xbox" and "PlayStation" brand and they don't necessarily specify which systems teens preferred. Hence, this could mean that young kids who grew up with an Xbox 360 in the house and thought it was cool back when Microsoft dominated the marketplace during seventh gen felt it was the cooler system over the PlayStation 3, which was pretty much standard between 2006 and 2010.

Regardless, both Microsoft and Sony should be happy to know that within their target demographics both the PlayStation and Xbox rank pretty high in terms of brand awareness. They're obviously on the radar of those who play video games.

Millennials, however, aren't quite as impressed with the Xbox, and there's a significant gap between the Xbox and PlayStation, with Microsoft's console brand resting at a 6.4 on the coolness scale, where-as the PlayStation is closer to 7.8 on the coolness scale.

With so many young teens thinking the Xbox is slightly cooler than the PlayStation, could this impact how the Xbox Scorpio sells this holiday season? And I wonder what Microsoft will be doing to court that audience and get those teens to convince their parents to buy the console?